Memory Foam Mattress Reviews, Ratings and Comparisons

About Memory Foam Mattress

COMPETITION: See Mattress Type Comparison to get detailed reviews about how Memory Foam Mattresses compare to other mattress types.

BASIC INFO: Made from polyurethane with several density-increasing chemicals, memory foam mattresses remain both high in price and owner satisfaction.

Overview

Price & Value

Prices of memory foam mattresses range from $100 to $4000+ for a couple of reasons. Generally speaking, costlier memory foam mattresses are about 75% thicker than low-priced ones. Since memory foam beds have about 20-50% memory foam content, it makes sense that high-priced memory foam beds may have about two times or more memory foam than low-priced ones.

However, a higher price is not proportional to higher owner satisfaction. Several popular memory foam brands have received some value questions from customers.

Lifespan

Memory foam mattresses on average have about a 7-year lifespan.

Conforming ability

Memory foam mattresses perform much better than other types.

Less back pain

The good conforming ability also benefits a person's back.

Maintenance

Rotating the mattress about 3 times a year

No sleeping hot

The sleeping hot problem happens occasionally in summer.

Odor & Noise

A few owners report serious odor problem while the others think it as acceptable minimal odor. Memory foam mattresses tend to be quiet.

Edge support

The edge support is considerably weak for sitting or sleeping.

Fast break in

Comparing to other types, memory foam mattresses require a longer break-in period

Sex suitability

The lack of bounce reduces sex suitability to some degree.

People of different size

• Heavy person friendly: Due to its weight sensitivity, people over 230 pounds tend to enjoy a superb experience on memory foam mattress.
• Avg-sized person friendly: People with 130-230 pounds find the memory foam mattresses quite comfortable.
• Light person friendly: People under 130 pounds may not benefit so much as average-sized people or heavy person.

Easy to move, transport

The memory foam mattresses generally weigh 30-200 pounds, so the degree of easy moving varies.

Construction & Firmness

Durability: On average, the lifespan of a memory foam mattress is about seven years.

Sagging: Many mattresses tend to lose their original shapes after years of everyday use, and innerspring mattresses are the most complained ones of their sagging problem. Memory foam beds as a group receive fewer complaints about losing shapes.

Softening: Apart from sagging, softening is also a common problem for almost every type of mattress. Seriously softening may affect the mattress' supportability and comfort.

Odor: Due to packaging and some contents it contains, new mattresses tend to give off a chemical-like odor. According to the research, there are 12% owners report serious odor problem while most owners think it as acceptable minimal odor. Most people say that the off-gassing will be gone after three days.

Healthy Vs Unhealthy: A small number of memory foam mattresses owners report symptoms like nausea, asthma, and headaches. No evidence or clinical study show any other possibilities of a long-term health threat.

Thick Vs Thin: Mattresses with 2-inch memory foam are less likely to give off odor than those thick ones.

High-Density Vs Low-Density: Mattresses with higher density foam are more likely to off gasses than low-density ones. Know more at Memory Foam Mattress Density.

Domestic Vs Imported: Domestic memory foam mattresses have a bigger chance of giving off odor than imported ones mostly because domestic mattresses tend to be produced with higher density.

Heat Retention: Since memory foam is highly temperature susceptible, it's assumed by the public that heat accumulation is a disturbing problem for memory foam mattresses. However, it turns out that most memory foam bed owners find no heat retention problems according to our research.

Gel foam Vs Ordinary foam: The use of gel memory foam reduces heat retention complaints by about one-third. Mattresses with two inches or more of gel foam may offer a longer cooling sleeping experience than those under-2-inch ones.

High-Density Vs Low-Density: High-density foams tend to be heavier and more temperature susceptible, so people are likely to sink deeper which hinders air circulation and trap heat. Know more at Memory Foam Mattress Density.

Softness Vs Firmness: Softer memory foam mattresses tend to cause more sleeping hot because people sink much more into a soft mattress resulting in a bad air circulation.

Conforming Ability: Memory foam mattresses' performance in the conforming-to-the-body ability and supportiveness is superior to any other types of mattresses.

Pros: A conforming bed will distribute a person’s weight equally to ensure a better sleep quality. It also gives high support to a person's lower back which helps to reduce back pain to some degree.

Cons: Since memory foam often keeps a person sleeping comparatively low, so there may be some hindrance to change positions or get up.

User Experience

Motion Isolation: Memory foam mattresses are superb in motion isolation which means a person’s movement will not transfer to the other side of the bed.

Sex suitability: Comfortable as memory foam mattress is, the lack of bounce is beyond dispute. As a matter of fact, it’s not so friendly for sex as other types of mattresses.

Break-in Period: Compared to other types, memory foam mattresses require a longer break-in period especially the ones with high density.

Mold and Mildew: Though only a few of its owners report mold or mildew problem, it should be known that mold or mildew problems are not easily perceived.Therefore, it's better to check the mattresses regularly. Generally speaking, owners in humidity places have a bigger chance of experiencing mildew problems.

Warranty

Memory foam mattresses often cover 5, 10 or 20 years warranty varied by different brands and types. However, most mattresses with everyday use fail to last the length of the warranties. For 5 or 10-year-warranty mattresses, the whole period is entirely non-prorated while you often need to pay maintenance fees after ten years of ownership for 20-year-warranty mattresses. Sagging depth is often covered under warranty scope while softening problems are not.

Know more at Mattress Warranty: All You Need to Know.

Brands Comparison

The tables below compare many popular memory foam mattresses from various perspectives